Why I do not support imPRESS nails/Kiss Products/Broadway Nails

So, this is kind of blowing up all over instagram right now and I wanted to share the story here as well for those who do not use instagram. It goes without saying that bloggers/microbloggers spend a ton of time working on what they do, especially intricate nail art. Which is exactly why it’s so disheartening to see a very large company attempting to profit off the work of nail artists.

The company behind the imPRESS nail kits (Kiss Products/Broadway Nails) has allegedly recently started working with some nail artists to collaborate on designs for their press on nails. Okay, awesome! A big company has finally recognized the talent so many of these women have!

Okay, maybe this is a huge coincidence. Let’s cut them some slack, I’m sure they didn’t mean t- oh, wait. Nope, they did the same exact thing to Badgirlnails.

It’s seriously disgusting for a company of this size to profit off of the work of these two women and think that it’s okay. I’m really wondering who dropped the ball here- was there a meeting where the employees scrolled through instagram saying, “Oh yeah, this one will be a moneymaker. I’m sure no one will notice.”? Was it a low level employee passing work off as their own? Regardless of how it happened, it is extremely uncool and that’s why I will not be supporting Kiss Products/Broadway Nails. I’m sure both of these ladies would have been ecstatic to collaborate with the company had they been asked.

I’ve seen some commenters say that they should just be happy that Kiss Products liked their designs enough to sell them. Does it feel awesome when people like and recognize your work? Of course! Does it feel really amazing to see your readers/friends/stalkers/foes recreate work that you did? Of course! What doesn’t feel very great is when a large company recognizes your work and likes your work so much that they profit off of it without cutting you even the smallest slice of the pie. Especially when it’s a company that has deep enough pockets to do so. (Plus, pie is delicious.)

That’s absolutely terrible that the companies won’t publicly acknowledge that the entire creative process that went into their product has actually come directly from ladies like us that do nail art and blog/IG it for fun and friendship. That’s pretty reprehensible behaviour.

I think it’s appalling and I hope the law is on their side. I don’t know if you own the design because you created it or if there’s some other step you’re supposed to take to protect yourself from theft like this. RAWR!

I’m glad you’re writing about this. I saw this last night and was completely disgusted by it. More than anything I’m shocked that such a large company would think that they could get away with this and no one would notice or care. What’s even worse are those who think that this is okay. Since when is theft okay??

Yes! It’s almost like I expect a big corporation to do evil and stupid things sometimes, but the people in the community thinking they should be flattered disgusts me more than anything.

LightSky175

how horrible of this company, it looks like they worked with other artist on collaborations and I am sure they profit in ways. Its so unfair to the ladies who had their work stolen from them!I sure hope legal action can be taken, this is just so wrong!

What can we do to protect our designs? How do you copyright nail art? if this is the case, we need to protect ourselves. It’s sad that we live in a world where companies do this kind of thing, but we need to be prepared! I feel so bad for both of those ladies. All we can do is support them and not let them lose their high spirit.

I think the difficulty here is proving damages in court BUT putting a ton of pressure on the company on social media seems to work best, just requires you to have a large following.

Sharon Parayos Merritt

How awful! And there’s NO WAY those are accidental – especially the marbling! At the very least the artists should get paid for the original design. Better yet I wish they could band together and sue the company! It’s a sin what companies think they can get away with.

I suppose they think they have lawyers so they can just do whatever? That seriously sucks. Absolute minimum, the original art creators should have been acknowledged and given credit (as seen on…or the like). Really royalties as well, but to not even acknowledge where they came from? I haven’t really purchased any of their products before. Now you can bet I won’t ever start.

Totally disgusted, but GLAD that they were caught at it. Who knows what other hardworking folks they were ripping off, who may not have even known it??! I wonder if KISS has released any kind of official statement about it?